Still trying to justify retail training for your quiet spa therapists? Read this insightful article by Geoffrey James from INC magazine.
The stereotype of a successful salesperson is an extrovert who sells anything to anybody. He (or, less commonly, she) charms customers so thoroughly that they sign on the dotted line before they know what hit them. Read More
It’s here! I just received my third and final post training retail sales report and the results are not surprising.
If you’ve been following me you know that three weeks ago, I wrote about training the hair stylists at a Five-Star property in Hong Kong. I was absolutely thrilled at the opportunity because so many decision makers balk at the idea of budgeting for staff training.
In fact most of my conversations with spa managers center around their justification of cost. “What will the return on investment be? Is it worth it?” Read More
My hair stylist Tony is wonderful. When I go home to the U.S. he is the second appointment I make after booking my flight ticket. He’s chatty, inquisitive and very charming. Read More
I loved this article in American Spa by Nicole Altavilla
Keep in mind that selling tactics are only as effective as your staff’s ability to comfortably engage with your guest through meaningful conversation. Read More
Despite the disproportionate number of introverts in the spa industry, most retail sales training is still presented from a traditional perspective geared toward outgoing personalities. Join me at ISPA2017 in Las Vegas on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 8 – 9 AM. Read More
When training spa therapists I’ll use story-telling to measure where they are with engagement, and recommendations for products and services. If you are a spa manager or director try presenting this case study to your staff. Read More
This article from Vendhq.com provides one more reason to overlay your therapist’s spa product training with engagement training. Remember, if your team is not engaging well with your guests, they’re probably not up-selling your services or maximizing retail product sales.
Enrique founded a spa/beauty product line created from plants and vegetables unique to a village in South America. For each product sold he gave back 15% of the profit to assist the village in building a school. His distributor positioned the line in the spas of a very upscale hotel chain. Read More
Spa managers who achieve high retail sales know that a strong front desk team is worth their weight in gold. Conversely, show me a spa with low retail sales and chances are great that the receptionists are weak in product knowledge.
Recently I trained a city spa team with product sales that hovered around 6%. (25% and higher is ideal) Staff included three receptionists all of whom had worked there for over a year. A technique that I always use is to ask the front desk staff to tell me their complete skin care regimen based upon the products on the shelves. This does several things; it allows me to gauge their knowledge, comfort in explaining product use, enthusiasm for the brands and level of engagement.
None of the receptionists were well versed enough to inform me of an entire daily routine. Despite the fact that the spa carries only three brands, they have complete access to product samples and serve as treatment models during training, they were somewhat clueless.
I wonder what happens when guests come in to purchase products?
In contrast, high performing teams always have strong receptionists. They are more than just pretty. They’re highly engaging and product obsessed! If your guest has last minute doubts or questions about their purchase, a good receptionist calls upon their personal experience with the products. They can provide the reassurance necessary to close the sale.
For managers with a weak front desk staff, resolving knowledge gaps and apathy is not difficult to resolve. Take these five steps:
1. Ensure that down time is spent familiarizing themselves with your products.
2. Ask product related questions frequently.
3. Conduct role play sessions with them.
4. Include product knowledge expertise as part of their performance review.
5. Create a program to incentivize sales.
This is something that you can begin today.
Consider that your front desk is first and last contact for your guests. Make the experience excellent.
Day Spa Association cited an interesting statistic in their latest Snapshot Report;
Spas that generated 20% or higher in retail could potentially improved their sales by as much as 14%.
This is not surprising as success tends to breed more success. But if you’re in that lower 20% group and desperately want to make a giant leap into the elite 30% plus club, how do you make it happen? Read More